A Guide to IT Consulting- Business.com

A Guide to IT Consulting- Business.com

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  1 Business.com Guide to ITConsulting
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  Legal Notice: © 2014Business.com Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. By reading this e-book, you agree to the following terms and conditions. Under no circumstances should this e-book be sold, copied, or reproduced in any way except when you have received written permission. As with any business, your results may vary and will be based on your background, dedication, desire, and motivation. Any testimonials and examples used are excep- tional results, which do not apply to the average purchaser and are not intended to represent or guarantee that anyone will achieve the same or similar results. You may also experience unknown or unforeseeable risks which can reduce results. The au- thors are not responsible for your actions. The material contained in this report is strictly confidential.
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  Contents What Is ITConsulting? 4 Trends in IT Consulting 6 Benefits and Drawbacks of Offshoring IT 10 Business.com Checklist for IT Consulting 12 Three Steps to Choosing an IT Consultant 14 Writing an RFP for an IT Consultant 16 RFP Checklist for IT Consulting Bids 18 Glossary of IT Consulting Terms 19
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  4 What Is ITConsulting? I T is Information Technology, and IT consulting is an umbrella term for a variety of interrelated activities, including: ¾¾ Providing advice and expertise on the use of computers, telecommunications equipment, and distribution networks that store, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data to effectively achieve business objectives, and assessing operational efficiency and capacity of your IT environment ¾¾ Planning, designing, testing, implementing, and managing IT technologies on behalf of a business ¾¾ Developing and supporting change management activities to transition users to new technologies and procedures ¾¾ Writing technical and user documentation ¾¾ Purchasing hardware and software systems on behalf of a business ¾¾ Providing and monitoring network security
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  5 ¾¾ Training andsupporting employees and customers in the use of IT technologies ¾¾ Staffing technical job functions on a temporary contract basis An IT consultant can be an individual (either a self-employed independent contractor or a professional employed through a staffing firm), a small, specialized firm, or a large national or multinational company. Generally, smaller companies offer specific competencies and/or serve smaller enterprises; they could also subcontract their unique skill sets to other IT consultancies that serve larger corporate clients. Your IT consultant helps your business implement new technology and support the technology you have. The role of the IT consultant is to help you make informed decisions about how technology can better help you achieve your business objectives. The role of the IT consultant is to help you make informed decisions about how technology can better help you achieve your business objectives.
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  6 Trends in ITConsulting Cloud Computing. The big attraction of cloud computing -- where your software and data are housed off-premises and accessed via a Web portal -- is that it’s generally less expensive. Moreover, software updates are usually relatively painless, eliminating costly and time-consuming installations, reducing the need for IT consultants. But, as more companies move their data to the cloud, more IT consultants are needed to get them there. It’s not just the need to migrate to new technology in the cloud, it’s also the need to ensure legacy systems work in the cloud. The big attraction of cloud computing -- where your software and data are housed off-premises and accessed via a Web portal -- is that it’s generally less expensive.
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  7 Thoran Rodrigues, writingin Tech Republic about the new role of IT in a cloud- based world, says: In our new world, IT must shift its perspective from owner to custodian. While it is still very important for IT departments to take a proactive approach in learning about and presenting new technologies and solutions to users, the most important side of the updated IT department will be its ability to act as a custodian of multiple technologies and systems. Instead of worrying about purchasing the technology and building out the infrastructure where it will run, it will have to work to ensure that all contracted SLAs are being respected, that the systems are interoperable and can work together, and that the service providers have long-term visions that are compatible with the direction that the company is heading.” Big Data. Organizations have increased the amount of data they gather by orders of magnitude in recent years. To make use of all this data, companies needs to sift it. IT consultants can help parse this data into useful and manageable reports.
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  8 In a storyon big data in InformationWeek, writer Jeff Bertolucci quotes David McJannet, vice president of marketing for Hortonworks. “Big data isn’t this nebulous thing,” he said “Very pragmatically, it’s about building net-new analytic applications based on new types of data that (an organization) wasn’t previously tracking.” It could make sense for your business to hire outside consultants for this specialized IT task. Outsourcing. It is generally easier and less expensive to to have your IT needs handled by outside consultants, rather than developing the expertise in-house, particularly given the ever-changing dynamic of IT technologies and requisite competencies to manage them. One of the advantages of outsourcing IT, according to an article by Colette L. Meehan in the Houston Chronicle online, is that “outsourcing allows management to defer the details to a specialized company. Removing the details permits management to focus on the larger issues within the organization.”
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  9 Whether you outsourceor not, the key to any successful relationship with an IT consultant is always the same: effective communication. You have to ensure that you and the consultant are always on the same page. And that job belongs to you. The one thing you can’t outsource is leadership. You need to stay close to the consultant at the beginning to build a working relationship and ensure that objectives are clear and measurement of progress is well understood. Then you need to see how the new system is being received and provide feedback to the consultant that others may not feel free to convey. You need to stay close to the consultant at the beginning to build a working relationship and ensure that objectives are clear and measurement of progress is well understood.
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  10 Benefits and Drawbacks ofOffshoring IT A good deal of IT consulting is conducted offshore simply because labor is cheaper. That might help your budget, but there are disadvantages to working with offshore talent. It’s common, for example, to outsource tech support, but accents and other language differences can make this tricky. Some offshore companies deal with this through better training of their consultants and screening for improved language fluency. Another issue is security. With offshoring comes the risk of political instability in countries where the work is performed. For mission-critical IT projects, one has to consider the risk of war, strikes, asset nationalization, and even terrorism. When offshoring you IT functions, be sure to ask the consultant about disaster recovery plans. For mission-critical IT projects, one has to consider the risk of war, strikes, asset nationalization, and even terrorism.
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  11 Keep in mindthat even when you’re dealing with a domestic IT consultancy, it may very well be outsourcing certain staffing and data warehouse functions to offshore operations. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but you need to ask whether any of their services are outsourced offshore and, if so, how they manage it, how they ensure security, and how cultural and language differences among workers are minimized. Keep in mind that even when you’re dealing with a domestic IT consultancy, it may very well be outsourcing certain staffing and data warehouse functions to offshore operations.
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  12 My Needs Vendor 1 Vendor 2 Areas Needing IT Upgrade: • Sales/Marketing • Customer Service • HR/Payroll • Data Warehousing • Other • Enterprise-Wide Systems Needed to Support IT: • Hardware • Software • Integrated Systems • Computers • Tablets • Smartphones System Security Considerations User Documentation My Needs Vendor 1 Vendor 2 Training and Support: • Employees • Customers • Online Service • Phone Service • On-Site Service • Video Tutorials • Remote Training Available Temporary IT Staffing Offshore Sourcing Selection Criteria: • Credentials • Qualifications • Certifications • Experience • References • Hourly rate • Flat Fee Business.com Checklist for IT Consulting
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  13 Three Steps toChoosing an IT Consultant H ow can you be sure your IT expert has the expertise you need? No matter the scale of the project, success depends upon having a clear idea of what you want to accomplish, and then setting milestones on how you expect to achieve it. 1. Write an RFP Write a Request for Proposal (RFP) that defines the project scope and consultant selection criteria. An effective RFP not only maps a plan of action but also serves as a compass to select a consultant that can best follow the map. It’s important that the people most likely to be the primary users, or who are most likely to be affected by the implementation of the technology be involved in writing the RFP. 2. Conduct a Personal Interview Getting a response to the RFP is only the start of a conversation. Personal interviews are critical to consultant selection. Just as if you were hiring an employee, interviews are where you first gain a sense of whether you feel comfortable with the candidate and that you have a mutual basis for a good working relationship.
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  14 3. Negotiate andSet Firm Pricing In most situations, costs are negotiable. You should be aggressive in stating exactly what you are willing to pay for, and what your budget allows. Most consultants will want to work with a reasonable budget, but your budget must be tied to specific deliverables and actions. The only way to ensure you are getting exactly what you are paying for is to specify upfront exactly what you are going to pay for. Don’t leave anything open-ended, because anything you leave open is likely to be something you’ll eventually pay for (especially if the consultant feels they’ve come down considerably in price to fit your budget). It’s also a good idea to put a cap on all expenses -- the phrase “shall not exceed without written authorization” should be in all of your contractual pricing.
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  15 Writing an RFPfor an IT Consultant Your RFP should: ¾¾ Define project objectives, key milestones, deliverables, timeline, and (perhaps most importantly) budget ¾¾ Describe what your current system does and how people use it ¾¾ Describe what your current system does not do, and what you would like it to do ¾¾ Specify the type of reports you want from the consultant and in what formats you want them ¾¾ Specify the intervals at which you expect to receive reports ¾¾ Rank by the importance your schedule, cost, performance, ease of implementation, lack of disruption, data integrity, and any other major factors
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  16 ¾¾ List consultantselection criteria, e.g., credentials, qualifications, certifications, experience, references, and fees ¾¾ Provide a sample contract, which essentially specifies or requests details on: ƒƒ scope of work ƒƒ standard of conduct ƒƒ deliverables ƒƒ implementation schedule/action plan ƒƒ list of project manager(s) and people consultant will work with ƒƒ reporting requirements/milestones ƒƒ compensation arrangement/payment schedule ƒƒ ownership of final product (usually you) ƒƒ provisions for non-performance/right to terminate ƒƒ liability for inaccurate information or misrepresentation of capabilities that results in impaired functionality ƒƒ status as independent contractor (both the consultancy as a firm and all of its employees/ subcontractors provided to work on the project)
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  17 RFP Checklist forIT Consulting Bids Criteria Description Project objectives Needs prioritization Scope of work Implementation schedule Key milestones Deliverables Budget New features, functionalities, capabilities desired Reporting requirements Additional contract terms: • Product ownership • Non-performance provisions • Legal relationship
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  18 Glossary of IT ConsultingTerms: Access: Where entry is gained into a circuit or network. Application Infrastructure: Software program(s) that deliver business applications. B2B Web Services: A combination of IT services deployed in some combination of cloud and enterprise intranet platforms that appears to users as a single integrated package. Best Practices: Methods and means most likely to achieve a desired goal with the most benefit. Beta Testing: Trial run of a new system or application under actual usage conditions; the assumption is this is not the final version, but close enough to put to work. Usually a group of “beta testers” put the system through its paces to detect and correct any problems or issues before releasing for general use.
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  19 Big Data: High-volume,high-capacity, and high-variety data assemblage that requires sorting and processing to yield meaningful information pertinent to specific user questions and needs. Content Management Systems: Provides for collaborative workflows throughout an IT network. Change Management: Activities that help transition individuals, teams and organizations to follow new procedures and implement new technologies. Data Warehouse: Collection of data or the location where data reside. IT Service Management: Used by consultants as a catchword to mean they manage networks from the customer’s perspective. Key Performance Indicator (KPI): Quantifiable and measureable goals and objectives agreed upon between the client and the IT consultant subsequently used to assess both the success of the project and the performance of the consultant. Letter of Understanding (LOU): A formal, written document provided by the IT consultant presenting its view of the scope of the project, key milestones,
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  20 and what serviceswill be provided and at what cost. This serves as a kind of checkpoint to ensure there is a complete understanding on the part of both the client and the consultant before signing a binding contract. Platform: A system’s underlying hardware and/or; the platform defines a standard around which software can be developed and hardware added. For example, a Windows 7 Professional platform would require software and devices capable of working with that operating system. Scope Creep: Signing up for more than you thought. The client thinks the IT consultant should write the documentation that goes with a new system implementation, but the consultant hadn’t considered this part of the project. Scope creep is often the result of an unclear RFP or an emphasis on the low- cost bidder without understanding what is missing from the bid. Scope creep is easily avoidable with an RFP that details exactly what is expected of the IT consultant on a given project. Storage Area Network: Employs multiple, networked servers to increase data storage capacity.